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Yogi Adityanath meets UP Guv to stake claim at UP Govt; to be sworn in as CM at 2:15 PM on Sunday

Yogi Adityanath meets UP Guv to stake claim at UP Govt; to be sworn in as CM at 2:15 PM on Sunday

In a move that surprised many, the 44-year-old five-term MP from Gorakhpur was elected the BJP legislature party leader at a meeting of the newly elected MLAs, a week after BJP won a resounding three-fourth majority in the key Hindi heartland state, making a combeback to power after 15 years.

Yogi Adityanath meets UP Guv to stake claim at UP Govt; to be sworn in as CM on Sunday (NN Image)

Yogi Adityanath, the controversial mascot of hardline Hindutva, will be the next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

In a move that surprised many, the 44-year-old five-term MP from Gorakhpur was elected the BJP legislature party leader at a meeting of the newly elected MLAs, a week after BJP won a resounding three-fourth majority in the key Hindi heartland state, making a combeback to power after 15 years.

State BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was himself in contention for the top job, first announced Adityanath’s election.

Maurya, the MP from Phulpur in Allahabad, will be the Deputy Chief Minister apart from senior BJP leader and Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma.

Later, addressing the media, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who along with BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav was present at the meeting as central observer for the election, told a press conference that Adityanath’s name was proposed by Suresh Khanna, an 8-term MLA, and seconded by 10 others.

Naidu said even after the proposal was made, he asked the 312 newly elected MLAs if they wanted to propose anybody else for the post, but they all backed Adityanath unanimously.

Adityanath, considered a divisive political figure, enjoys considerable popularity in the state and is known to make provocative statements, be it about Islam or Pakistan.

His elevation as the Chief Minister of the volatile state would mark the culmination of an aggressive two-pronged election campaign by the BJP in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the party’s development agenda, but sundry leaders raked up the issue of Ram temple.

The campaign acquired communal overtones following Modi’s “Kabristan and Shmashan” remark at an election rally.

A strong votary of construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Adityanath drove BJP’s Hindutva campaign in the eastern UP in the just concluded Assembly polls.

The Yogi, who wears ‘Hindutva’ on his sleeve and has been accused of involvement in quite a few communal incidents in the past, wields considerable influence among the Hindu hardliners.

He is not known to enjoy good rapport with the BJP leadership and his elevation has left many puzzled, with political circles abuzz with talk of RSS having prevailed over the party in deciding the new chief minister.

Its allies Apna Dal(S) and SBSP bagged nine seats and four seats, respectively, taking the total tally of the combine to 325.

On the other hand, the SP won 47 seats, while its ally the Congress got seven. The BSP won just 19 seats, finishing a dismal third.

The chief minister will have a long list of tasks to accomplish going by BJP’s Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (Pledge for People’s Welfare) which promised a host of sops for students, women and farmers, especially free education, laptops and LPG connection in every home.

Before Adityanath, Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh of BJP have served as UP chief minister.

Kalyan Singh, now Rajasthan Governor, held the high office twice.

Like him, CB Gupta, Charan Singh, ND Tewari, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati too have served as chief minister more than once.

Mayawati has the distinction of holding the post four times, while Mulayam was CM thrice.

Mayawati and the outgoing chief minister Akhilesh Yadav have the credit of completing a full five-year term.

Interestingly, the BSP supremo also has the distinction of serving for the shortest term of four months when she first took over the reins in 1995.